All Roads Passable, but Many Still Hazardous

Following , all main arteries in Riverhead were passable by Wednesday afternoon, although some –  including Horton Avenue and other north-south roads – had been reduced to one lane in spots due to drifting snow.

According to the National Weather Service, nine inches of snow was reported in Flanders at 11:15 a.m. While no official reports for Riverhead were available, totals seemed to have closely exceeded that, nearing the one-foot mark.

But wind gusts, per usual, brought snow totals to exceedingly different levels in some spots.

On Sound Avenue, which Highway Superintendent George “Gio” Woodson said had “probably been plowed 15 times since early morning,” there was a thick covering of snow, making driving hazardous. And by farm fields, drifting continues to occur.

“The wind keeps blowing it and we keep plowing it,” Woodson said. “It’s the topography of the area we have here. That’s what we contend with every snowstorm."

The NWS reported gusts of 25 miles per hour blew overnight, and a local area high of 48 miles per hour wind gusts in Westhampton. A winter storm warning remains in effect until 6:00 p.m.

Even on heavily traveled Sound Avenue, traffic was light as residents heeded advice from police to stay home. According to the police department, just three motor vehicle accidents had been reported from Wednesday morning until 3:30 Wednesday afternoon.

"Drivers have been heeding the warnings to stay off the road and let the plow guys do their jobs," . "It's been effective at this point. Hopefully it stays that way."

After snowfall began around 9:00 on Tuesday night, the highway department – 34 men in all – started plowing at around 1 a.m. Between 3 and 5 a.m., Woodson said, heavy, driving snow produced white-out conditions, with plows unable to go more than fives miles and hour.

Woodson said that it was only by early afternoon Wednesday that his crews could begin turning their attention to many residential developments. Most of his men had worked through the night and are expected to remain on the job until 6 p.m.

Woodson said that at certain times, particularly early morning, conditions were worse than during the storm that hit on Dec. 27.

“In an average snow storm, it can take as little as seven hours to run through the whole town,” Woodson said. “But if you have to contend with the winds, it can take up to 20 hours to do the same job.”

As usual, it was roads north of Route 58 that presented the most problems.  By mid-afternoon, Routes 58 and 25 were down to blacktop.